Flatline
by Talitha Koum
Summary: 1xR fluff. After Endless Waltz, assuming Blind Target never happened. 'Relena wet her lips and made to depart. But Heero held her fast. There was one more sense to satisfy. 'Kiss me.' He meant for it to be a request, though it sounded more like a command.


Dedicated to: My Life Support. My Savior.

_A/N: Fear not. Death has nothing to do with this fic, as misleading as the title looks. _

_**Disclaimer**: It's healthy to want things. _

FLATLINE

By: Talitha Koum

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Heero awoke, not knowing exactly where he was. But that didn't last long. He smelt sterilities. He heard the persistent chirping of an EKG and that bothersome drip for the IV stuck in the back of his hand. He felt an outlandish amount of gauze wrapped about various appendages, too. Heero took a moment to ponder what kind of shape he was in _this time_. Whatever drug they'd pumped into his system, it was doing its job. Numbness was a prevailing sensation. Thin sheets of linen were draped over his body along with other wires and tubes attached here and there. _Everywhere._ Heero chose not to open his eyes to continue the sensory check. There was nobody in the hospital room with him from what he could tell, but that didn't mean he wasn't being monitored.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Heero cursed his misfortune. Though embedded in his nature to never give in, he'd hoped the innate behavior had been eradicated from his system after his oath to never kill again proceeding the Mariemaia incident. After all, that was his only purpose: to destroy. And be destroyed.

Yet here he lay.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

A different sound pricked at the tips of his ears. It caught his full interest. Heels were clicking little by little in his direction, muffled by the surrounding walls. Short stride. Light footfalls. A door to his left swung open. Heero inhaled as slowly as he could. Blood. Sweat. Dirt. Flowers. That unmistakable woman fragrance. It was _her_.

Up for five minutes and twenty-three seconds. And in she walks.

At least Heero recollected his want for survival, now.

Relena Darlian.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

_She_ was the reason. Because she cared whether or not he rotted for all eternity. Heero had yet to figure out why. He'd threatened her life enough to know that she should be _avoiding_ his company instead of _seeking_ it. That's why she unnerved him. And not much did.

Relena moved close. Her scent plagued him. Heero would have enjoyed hiding at least _one_ fact from himself...how he had to _work_ at maintaining his current heart rate. Had to actually prevent the readings from distinguishing his consciousness. It was barely manageable in his current condition. But why? _Blast_. Again with his ignorance.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

"I know you can hear me," Relena whispered.

Heero discerned her kneeling next to the bed. One of her hands alighted on his. It was surprisingly warm and tender. _Oh-so_ tender. But he remained still and refused to acknowledge the young woman.

"Don't die."

Heero wasn't going anywhere, whether he liked it or not. An extra few pounds of pressure were added to his torso. Relena's erratic breath permeated through the covers, tickling his skin. Along with something wet. Her tears.

"Please wake up?" she asked. Very kind. Very in control of her emotions despite the waterworks. "Please?"

God, her pleas were torment. Heero didn't want to look at her…speak with her. Already she was overwhelming his sanity. He didn't need to intoxicate himself any further than he already had. He was concerned with her well-being and her well-being only. So that meant he had to be taken out of the picture as quickly as possible for her sake. Relena would never be _truly_ happy until he wasn't present. _He_ was the result of all her heartache. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. The only thing Heero could do was leave as soon as he formulated a plan of escape. The medical team would be none the wiser and all documentation concerning Heero Yuy would be destroyed. Then he'd hide himself in the deepest recesses of space.

And never see her again. It was the only way.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

The covers bunched in Relena's fist. "Heero."

His hand (the one she wasn't holding) twitched. _Involuntarily_. Heero berated his lack of control. How could _one_ person have such an effect on him? No amount of enemy fire…impossible odds…even _death_ couldn't come close to how much she frightened him. Still, Heero remained oblivious to the reason. He wasn't sure he'd approve of the answer, anyway. Ignorance was, indeed, bliss.

Relena stayed by his side. She stopped weeping over him and her breathing pattern returned to normal. The room steadily lightened until the dawn's first rays penetrated Heero's eyelids.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Just as he thought the Vice Foreign Minister asleep, Relena lifted her head. And after a mere precious minute of her touch, Heero began to miss it. She was leaving. To get some rest, he gathered. But, as much as he hated himself for it, he didn't want her to. That's probably the reason that, just as her hand slipped away…

Heero was torn. In the end, he gripped the end of Relena's fingers before she got too far. Before she was lost to him for good.

And now he realized that he'd sentenced himself to speech. She knew he was awake.

"Heero?"

_Beep…beep…beep…_

He had no choice but to open his eyes.

Relena's dirt-ridden face flooded his vision. She was pale from sleep deprivation (his fault, unfortunately). Her cheeks were flushed and stained from crying. _Her eyes_. Those beautiful, blue eyes so full of something he couldn't comprehend. Outlined with full, inky lashes…they welled at the sight of his response to her prayer. Her unkempt, honeyed locks cascaded down her suited shoulder. The suit still covered in his own blood.

"Heero!"

No matter how many times she said his name, it never ceased to send a chill skipping up his spine. If Heero wasn't careful, he'd become _completely_ useless. No amount of training had prepared him for this. Torture of the worst kind, yes, but…

Relena smiled. Heero's mind vaguely registered that he returned it. Maybe.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Heero couldn't stand it any longer.

The all-consuming desire to_ know_ ballooned inside of him to the point of physical pain. He sat up, noticing now that one of his ribs must have been broken (though he ignored it), and ushered Relena near. Heero cupped her salt-water face into his callused hands. He positioned his nose centimeters from her's for the sake of study.

The close proximity was exhilarating.

Relena's pulse spiked. The skin beneath Heero's fingertips burned. Her breathing faltered. These signs he took in, but didn't understand. Not fully.

_Beep…beep…beep… _

His stoic heart of stone was still the same. Never feeling.

"_Why_?" Heero asked. His breath was heavy. Uncalculated. Almost angry.

"Why?" Relena repeated after him. Her brow furrowed. "Why what?"

"Why do you care?" he clarified. What did she want of him?

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Relena huffed. The smell of flowers assaulted Heero again. Her brilliant eyes shimmered in thought to his question. She shook her head, unsuccessful at hiding a blush. "Because I love you."

_Love_ him? Was this why he'd been unable to destroy her? _Was it_? There was no way for him to perceive this. He didn't know what love felt like. Never had the luxury of being loved by anyone or anything. There were no logistics in this matter. Heero couldn't _see_ how he felt. _Touch_ how he felt. It was out of his reach.

Relena's gaze fell to avoid his perplexed glare. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Heero wasn't sure if she said this because she knew he couldn't replicate her feelings or…

Relena wet her lips and made to depart again. But he held her fast. There was one more sense to satisfy.

"Relena."

She froze.

"Kiss me." Heero meant for it to be a request. It sounded more like a command.

"Wha-"

He grew tired of waiting and so initiated it himself, cutting her off. Though he didn't know how. Heero'd never been given a kiss before. Not from a mother or father. Sibling or friend. But he knew what one looked like. That was enough. He tucked his fingers into her hair as the space in-between them shrank. His lips pressed against Relena's and he was finally content after all this time. _Finally_. So this was how she tasted.

Sensory check. Complete.

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Relena didn't shrink away like Heero thought she would have. Instead, she responded. And it…_startled_…him. Enough to where there was an audible gasp on his part. Which was altogether unexpected in itself. He'd never known such a thing to exist and it ached his chest more soundly than any of his fractures and lacerations. A feeling that he'd never experienced before this point in time.

The EKG went haywire.

Heero lost every ounce of concentration. The beeping steadily sped up. It grew louder by the second. Faster…and faster…and faster. So quick, it was hard to distinguish between individual chirps. But he didn't need to hear it. He could feel his heart pounding like it never had before.

His cover was blown. They'd come for him soon. Come and question him now that he was '_awake'_. But he found that he didn't care. For once.

Heero ripped the wires from his chest just to end the noise.

_Flatline_.

He withdrew enough to savor the sensation, now visibly shaken. It was almost humiliating to think that one gesture could exhaust him more efficiently that the Zero System. Relena's eyes were now closed against him. He slid his thumbs across her cheeks, clearing away the dirt and moisture clinging to her lashes. Heero discovered then that he wanted to love her. No. _Needed_ to. Relena's mouth parted in wonder at the event. It echoed what he felt, in all honesty and he found himself mesmerized. He craved to know – desired to learn.

So he'd stay. And allow her to teach him.

010

'_I need you to love me. And I won't keep my heart from you this time. So I'll stop this pretending that I can't somehow deserve what I already have.'_

_Enough fluff to make you sick, huh? Hehe.  
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_A/N: I hope you enjoyed the one-shot. If you leave a review, I'll get back to you. Thanks for reading. God bless!_


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